InuKag Week Prompts
by sankontesu
Summary: A whole week of InuKag love prompts. Rated blanket M for tones and content.
1. Growth

**A/N:** _I've decided to compile all my InuKagWeek2016 fics into this in a series of chapters. InuKagWeek was amazing, we had so much fun. Join us on tumblr at inukagweek dot tumblr dot com, if you want to catch up on it all. (Varying ratings, there is an eventual somewhat smut on day 3, that's why I rated the whole thing 'M')_

 _ **word count** : __2k_

 _ **Rating:** T_

* * *

" **Growth" - InuKag Week Day 1**

* * *

 _The nerve of this girl to shatter the jewel._

 _What's worse is that I've somehow been cursed to travel around with her yapping mouth to put it back together._

 _To top it off, she reeks, she's ugly, and above all things, ridiculously stupid._

* * *

"Mama, you won't believe this."

"Oh," her mother said with a smile, shifting her eyes back to the stew. "I don't doubt that for a second, dear."

"You know that half-demon that traveled through the well from the past, and forced me to team up with him to find a way to save Japan?"

"Inuyasha, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that pig-headed no-good _jerk_." The girl plopped down onto the seat with furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips. "He looked me straight in the eyes," she gestured to them angrily. "And said I looked like a-"

* * *

"Inuyasha, what do you think, two acorns or three? I feel like four _might_ be overdoing it. Or maybe I can put two in each hand…" Shippo lifted his palms and looked from the right to the left, eyeing the space in-between each his fingers, "Yeah that might work actually…Inuyasha? _Inuyasha?_ Are you even listening?"

He wasn't.

His nose was crinkled and his face was scrunched into a hideous frown, looking out in the distance with an unkind expression.

Inuyasha was by proxy, an observant creature.

Being cast from society and flung into the wild to fend for yourself did that to a person. So it was natural that he would come to pay attention to almost everybody, just as much as he paid attention to the changing of the seasons, the sounds of the forest, and the harsh creases in the branches over his head.

But he rarely _noticed_ people and although there were plenty of pretty girls that passed by his vision on any given day when they traveled from village to village, he had never really _looked_ at a girl…

At least- not like this.

At least- not in a while…

" _Yoo_ -hoo, Inuyasha," Shippo waved a hand in front of the half-demon's face from his perch on his shoulder. "Anybody in there? What are you looking at?"

Shippo followed Inuyasha's line of sight, bewildered and indignant. "Oh. It's just Kagome…"

But it wasn't just Kagome- it was an extra-terrestrial pull of the half-demon's solar plexus, goading him to approach her like she was sun and he was the earth. Like a Goddess or a Deity or an Angel, the heavens were inviting him to worship.

His gut churned with something unknown and it bubbled up to the rosy glow on his cheeks that snuck up all the way around to the back of his neck.

Her hair was black, like a clear night sky during winter, and it was brought up into a high messy pony-tail, falling down her back in long curly loops- similar to the way waves rolled onto the shore after dusk in the twilight. She was jogging awkwardly up an incline to meet him and her smile was oxygen to his lungs.

Inuyasha was _uncomfortable_.

"Earth to Inuyasha!" Shippo finally yelled in an explosive confetti of acorns.

But he wasn't responding.

Because The Goddess was speaking now, walking directly towards him with a friendly wave.

"Inuyasha!" She called out to him, and it felt like she was yanking his heart out of his mouth with a string. She wiped the sweat from her brow after the small hike up the hill and stopped. Her pony-tail curled around her right shoulder and her face was pink. "I was looking for you two. There's a sweet lady down in the village- Nori- and she needs some help lifting lumber for her wall. She's a widow you see, and I think it's something you can maybe help her with and…what…what are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"

It was then that Inuyasha realized he was still staring openly and all nine planets in the solar system came crashing down.

He blinked rapidly and dug his hands into his sleeves, finding his safe place, and parted his lips in a trademark sneer.

"Keh, yeah. But I don't think you can fix it."

"What do you mean?" There was a foreboding tone to her words, and Shippo jumped away from him, already knowing what was about to follow. Inuyasha panicked and shifted his eyes around the wilderness, looking for something- _anything_.

"You lo-look like a damn mongoose."

* * *

 _He's insufferable._

 _He's rude, he's loud, and he has no sense of indignity._ \

 _I had never really given much thought to what I'd want my future husband to be like, and it's now that I've met_ _ **him,**_ _I'm realizing that I would one day want someone who is his complete_ _ **opposite.**_

* * *

"Kagome?"

The girl lifted her head from the dining table and hummed her reply.

"Is everything okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Mama began slowly, wiping her hands on the flower patterned rag by her elbow. "You look a bit down…Is it Inuyasha?"

At his name, the girl visibly stiffened up in answer to the question.

"I guess."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

After a heavy sigh, Kagome turned to face her mother but wouldn't meet her in the eye. "He held my hand."

"Oh?"

"And asked me not to leave."

"You were leaving him?"

"No," Kagome said slowly while tilting her head. "But he thought I was dead and my spirit was ascending to the spirit realm."

"Ah," Her mother nodded knowingly, "I see. So what do you make of it?"

"I have no idea. He calls me names, looks at me like I'm gum on the bottom of his shoe, and then he…he risks his life repeatedly to save me, holds my hand, gives me his firerat robe when I'm cold…"

Mama smiled softly, "And how do you feel?"

"About what?"

"About him?"

Kagome's heart was beating frantically outside her chest, her ears filling with a strange buzzing sound, and she suddenly wanted to disappear.

"I don't know, Mama."

* * *

His hair glimmered in the sunlight.

This was something that Kagome realized abruptly when she was half-way to telling him that she preferred the trout over the salmon.

His muscles were clear cut and rippled under his deliciously tanned skin as he worked his hands through the current, bent over the river to fish for lunch. His hair was tangled and free and caught up in a mess of colors that played off the surface of the water. And when…when had he taken his shirt off?

It was hard paying attention to anything else, and a coil of hot fuzzy feelings settled dense in her belly.

The foreign feeling showed on her face, and creased all the way down to her toes.

It wasn't that she thought Inuyasha _unattractive_ \- it was more the sheer leveland _intensity_ of attraction that surprised her as it corralled head first into her chest.

From the moment she had laid eyes on him, sleeping at peace underneath the streaks of sunshine in the middle of the forest, she had known he was beautiful. The type of beauty that she had never known existed, like seeing a unicorn for the first time, or a mermaid.

But he had shattered that magic the second his mouth opened to yell obscenities, and all plausible romantic possibility flew with it.

Which didn't do much to explain why she was currently standing five feet away, blushing and hanging on the precipice of a very vivid, and very real crest of emotion.

"Hey Kagome," he began, without laced roughness or impolite connotations. "What type of fish did you say you wanted?"

Fish? What fish?

Confusion prickled at her senses, and she shook her head trying to clear up the haze that had suddenly appeared in her mind like miasma. Except not like miasma. Except much more warm and _gentle_ and not poisonous at all…

Kagome felt _uncomfortable._

Inuyasha scratched the back of his head, his face dropping into such a lost concerned look that it took all of Kagome's willpower not to move forward and brush the white wet bangs from his forehead.

"Do you not want any? Don't tell me you-"

"Trout," she yipped, pointing her fingers at him with a shimmy and slowly moved backwards. "I like trout." An awkward sensation poured all over her.

He threw her a suspicious glance, a question nearing the tip of his tongue, but then he twisted to the stream again.

Later that day, as Shippo and Kagome giggled through their mouths full of food, something painful pricked at Kagome's cheek.

She yelped in discomfort and recoiled backwards. Shippo flashed her a worried expression and Inuyasha leaned forward from the shadows to inspect the problem.

Kagome hooked into her mouth and pulled out a sharp piece of fish vertebrae.

"Kagome, you gotta be careful about those things." Shippo admonished in a good-natural way, reaching up to examine the pointed object. He held it up to the firelight where Inuyasha was observing intently and then chucked it into the bushes. "If you want, I can debone the next one for ya. My father was always really good at stuff like that, and he taught me some."

"Really Shippo?" The priestess fought back the burn of embarrassment that flickered on her cheeks. She was so famished that she hadn't taken her time with the fish and now she was blinking away tears.

"Oh yeah, he was the _best_."

The next time Kagome extended forward for another trout, Inuyasha had reached around and taken her plate, deposited a cleanly bone-stripped body, and pushed it back to her. His hand lingered on the edge of the paper dish carefully.

"Here," he said brusquely. And nothing else.

No- _"since you can't do it for yourself"._ No- _"you idiot- always hurting yourself"._

Kagome felt her mouth open to express her gratitude, and she knew she was speaking, but she didn't hear it. Time curdled to a slow stirring stop when she realized with clarity that the clawed hand that had remained on the plate was now touching hers as she moved to grab it. The calloused dry skin of his fingers brushed up against hers, and something deep within her trembled like the earth was being split apart.

And then he snapped it back quickly, and time dropped back into focus.

Kagome wasn't sure what was transpiring here, or what was happening to her insides- seeing as they had decided to start doing things they've never done before- but all she could gather from the past few events was that something was growing steadily…a feeling…for Inuyasha…

She dropped her jaw in a characteristic sign of disgust, feeling out her tongue like she had just tasted something bitter.

"You said you wanted the trout," Inuyasha glared from his root across her. "Don't blame me for the tas-"

"No the trout is great, I just…" she gave a dry laugh and waved at him. "Uh, I just thought of something really unsettling."

* * *

 _Kagome is kind._

 _And she very often puts herself in danger, and it scares me…_

 _Thinking of losing her, spirals me into some weird state of eternal agony- a dark empty space that's hardly breathable. Suffocating._

 _I don't get it, and I don't want to._ _I just want it gone._ _I want her gone._ _But I don't._

* * *

 _I wish I had never met him._

 _But that's not even the truth, the truth is something much crueler._

 _I wish I had met him_ _ **first.**_

 _My ribs hurts from sobbing and my cheeks are caked with salt, but it doesn't end- it feels like it will never end._

 _I don't understand it, although sometimes I think I might._ _How can these feelings that course through me so warmly when I'm with him, turn to stone and ice when I'm away?_ _I'd almost rather not have them at all, than feel this pain._

 _Almost._

* * *

Three years was an awfully long time to finally hear his voice.

 _"_ _Stupid," he choked, holding her so close Kagome could see the forest through the smell on his clothes. Comfortable and warm. "What have you been up to?"_

* * *

 **A/N** : _This is it, a small look into their growing feelings for each other ! I think it would be funny for Inuyasha to suddenly realize he had a huge crush on Kagome and then the next thing that tumbles out of his mouth is "you look like a mongoose." And for Kagome when she realizes she's starting to like Inuyasha: YUCK. The Kagome/Mama interactions were for you to see her growth in how she thought of him over time, and also I meant for it to be kinda funny when Kagome said something crazy and outlandish about the feudal era and her mom was like "oh really? cool!"_

 _Also, side note (side flailing): this day has been so amazing, and I love all the response across the board, and thank you to every single person who is participating and helping, and even if all you're doing is reblogging, it means the world and I know sound super stupid but it keeps the fandom healthy. We breathe life into this series that ended years ago, and I can't imagine where we'd be without you guys._


	2. Care

**"Care" - InuKag Week Day 2**

 _word count: **2700**_

 **Rating:** _T_

* * *

Kagome's taken up painting as her new hobby.

She does it while I'm not home mostly. Sometimes I'll walk through the door and she'll be crouched over a piece of parchment with a deeply concentrated face, hands scrunched into some rags or brushes and always covered in vibrant water colors. Her tongue'd be stuck just over the close of her lips.

The moment I've stepped through the breach she glances up frantically and rushes to put all her materials away. "Hey, Inuyasha!" Overly innocent.

The first few times she did it, curiosity would linger on my mind like a fat cat sitting in wait for its bowl of fish. But eventually when I realized Kagome wasn't willing to show me what she was spending so much of her time on- _or even talk about it for that matter_ \- it turned into a steady beat of displeasure. Frustration. Annoyance.

In the night when I'm comfortably wrapped around her, she'll bump and nudge my arms away quietly- _as if it wouldn't wake me up_ \- and tip-toes out of our bedroom to the main one. She returns smelling of strong paint fumes and dirty water. I'll peek an eye open to catch the sad tired circles under her eyes, and a pouty mouth set in a mulish disappointed line. I didn't know _why,_ but the urge to hug her was overwhelming, and a particularly new development since our marriage- one that I wasn't all that accustomed to yet.

But it settled on my mind anyway, so I did the best I could and pretended to yawn in order to throw an arm over her middle. Her breathing would ease, her posture relaxing, she'd lift a soft hand to caress mine, and I figured that only meant I did something right…for once.

However when the days turned into weeks, and the amount of times I walked in on her in a hurry to hide _something,_ flipped into the double digits, I couldn't help it damnit-

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" I finally ask one evening, probably harsher than necessary when I find her asleep in a shallow bowl of yellow paint.

"N-nothing!" She comically pats at her cheek and cringes when she realizes the paint has dried onto the skin.

"Doesn't look like nothing."

"Oh?" All the materials disappear into a box like they always do, and she collects her brushes in one giant swoop of her arms, "That's strange."

"Stop dodging the question!"

"I'm not!" She sing-songs from the hallway connecting to our bedroom, "How was your day? Did you gut any demons? Did Miroku help?"

My wife is damn good at distracting me. "Two giant ones," I do my best to sound humble with closed eyes as I bring the memory to surface. "Miroku was entirely fucking useless again, and it was left all up to me to take them down. But I did it. Without the sword too, I just went old-school with it."

"Amazing!" She gushed, finally reappearing with wide sparkling brown eyes. "Tell me more!"

And another day slipped by without me knowing what in God's name she was up to.

* * *

Until I come home and she's not there.

Neither are her paint jars, her papers, her canvases, or her brushes.

And the scent that hangs thick in the air is stale- my nose lets me know that it's probably been a long stretch of time since my wife has been around.

I don't panic though, this might have been the first, but it can't be a big deal right?

So she's not home. She's probably with Sango and the kids, or picking flowers, or herbs, or helping Kaede with the health visit rounds. Nothing to worry about.

I take it easy, relax into the plush downy sheets (cost me a ton of damn money by the way) of our bedding and decide to take a nap.

Except, I don't nap.

Except, I can't fucking nap.

Cause my wife isn't home.

 _On my human night._

But I give it some time, because this can't be normal right? This sinister paranoia that seeps so deep into my subconscious that I think it's turning my bones to lead? I'm heavier than normal, what the fuck is happening.

I wait. And I wait. My claws disappear and my ears melt down to my sides.

Then the muted orange of a sundown alerts me that it's been way too long and it's time to gear up into Protective Husband Mode in search for Clumsy and Easily Killed Wife.

"Goddamnit," I growl because I should have just started to look for her sooner.

It isn't until I'm finally rushing around the village asking for her when I've realized that the silent fear of losing her all over again is something very raw. And that it's crawling out of its nasty little hole at the bottom of my heart.

I do well to hold back from letting it show though. Despite all the _terror_ \- the familiar terror that's seized me for three goddamn years- that is fighting its way back to the front of my mind.

"Miroku! Sango! Have you seen Kagome? I can't find her, she wasn't home." I'm cool. I'm collected.

"Inuyasha calm down, I'm sure she's just gone to that newly abandoned hut at the end of the road."

"What?" I'm so confused, "Did you hit your head or something? I'm talking about Kagome. We have a home already-"

"I didn't hit my head." Sango interjects with a slight glower. Well I didn't mean to offend her…

"Sango's right, Inuyasha," Miroku tells me in a perplexed tone- like it should be fucking obvious that my wife has just randomly decided to house herself in an abandoned hut 'at the end of the road'. Where is that even supposed to be anyway? "She mentioned taking a look at it last week and she's been making visits ever since. I saw her on her way there not too long ago."

Maybe it's something about the look on my face because Sango finally softens up and sighs, "You didn't know about it?"

"No."

Why didn't I know about it?

Why didn't she tell me?

Is this a reflection of myself? Does she want to move away? Am I bad husband? Is it the smell?

I can't put it into words, but all the self-doubt gnawing on my insides is agonizing, like being eaten alive in front of an audience, and I want to ditch into the nearest tallest tree to lick my wounds. (Okay, maybe I can put it into words.)

But I have a wife now, and I have to find her.

"Where's the end of the road?"

Sango points west and I'm gone.

* * *

It's downhill, and I'm running as fast as I can, my hands curled tight into fists.

When I find the hut, I stop in front of it and breathe.

I stare at the lazy flap of burlap that covers the small pathetic home, and when the breeze picks it up I'm smacked in the face with the fresh paint fumes that I've grown accustomed to.

I have a staring contest with my shadow for a beat of silence, weighing on how I should confront this. I don't want to mess it up.

Crash in and announce yourself and the fact you don't want her to move away because she is your _wife._

"Kagome! It's me! Don't even think about moving away! I haven't even put up the new connecting…bath…house…"

I'm breathless, and the view that meets me in the bright glow of the slowly dying fire breaks my heart.

She looks knocked out exhausted on the ground, surrounded by a floor full of water and oil and ink drawings, all done in expressionistic and bold strokes, with passionate earthy tones. Jars of paint are everywhere, and there isn't a section of the hut that isn't dotted with color.

The drawings are spiraled all around her, and thick canvases are leaned up against the walls. I look around wildly, putting my eyes on everything.

The first picture closest to me is of her mother. Cradling her face with laugh.

Then her grandfather. Sternly arguing with someone on the other side of the cloth.

Her brother. Holding up two fingers with a mischievous look.

Her friends from school, and some other faces that I hardly recognize but I know don't belong to anyone living in this era.

My heart lurches for the third time that evening, except this time it's so painful that I find myself on my knees.

The faces are all so vivid and it's almost as if they're caught in those things Kagome used to call _fo-toh-grafs_. Genuine happy smiles with closed eyes and wide gapped teeth. They're not posing or prepositioned, they're all perfectly portrayed in the same exact way I remember them as real living people of flesh and bone.

I realize Kagome has drawn everyone she's lost to the other side of the well.

I want to gather her in my arms and maybe drop in a comment on what a great artist she is, but I can't really stand to talk at the moment. So I move forward carefully.

I stop when I get to the image of her mother, a second one she's drawn. She's smiling but there are tears in her eyes.

The only other person I've seen smile while crying was my own mother and I start to wonder if it's something only mothers do. Always putting up an act to be okay and happy, and not even realizing that they're so torn up inside that it shows.

I swallow down a lump that sits high in my throat and push the painting away, getting my fingers dirty with the ink.

"Kagome?" I struggle to get out, my emotional strength dwindling. I feel miserable. I feel like this is somehow all my fault.

All my fault that she's left the safety of our home to creep into this dirty abandoned pity of a structure to hide away all the memories of her family.

I'm not worth whatever pain she's going through, I'm not even worth a drawing.

Literally, I mean…there isn't a single drawing of me in here. Not that I'm complaining…

I lay down on my side next to her, careful to avoid the other paintings and instinctively curl my finger to push back the hair that's fallen onto her face. There's a puddle of drool at the side of her cheek and I'm starting to feel a little bit lighter. Less dragged down by the reality of where I'm standing. Or laying.

I wish I had my demon abilities right now because all I want to do is listen to the lull of her heart. I've found that it does an amazing job of calming me down.

But I don't want to wake her.

After the whirl-tide of feelings that has decided to invade my human night (as it usually does), guilt finally falls pliantly like a smooth hot stone in my gut.

"I'm sorry," I whisper after several snaps of the fire.

Her lashes flutter up prettily and two maple colored eyes look at me with an intensity so fierce that my lips part in awe.

"What are you being sorry about?" She answers hoarsely, creeping slightly closer. I pretend not to notice her wiping the drool off her jaw with a shoulder.

I scan her face trying to read her. But all I can see is outpouring love and adoration and its killing me because I just want to kiss her senseless. The guilt holds me back.

"Your family."

She blinks and muses this response, almost as if she's just realized where we are and what I've seen.

"So you saw it."

"Why were you hiding it?"

"I just…didn't want you to blame yourself."

Like I am right now.

"…and," she continues, "I don't think I'm very _good_ at this stuff. One day I started doodling on my notes for curing a minor cold with magnolia flowers, and next thing I know I'm sketching out the face of…" She hitches her breath and releases it slowly, "Mama."

I don't know what to say. So I wrap my arms around her waist instead and tentatively pull her close.

"You miss them," I try after a while, feeling safe around facts and blunt responses.

She nods and gazes into the flames of the fire pit across us. "And I'm scared of forgetting…"

Ah. I get it now.

"We'll put these up around the home." I decide out loud, watching with pride as she looks shocked at first and then melts down into smiles.

"I don't think they're that good though. And I'm sorry for falling asleep. I didn't mean to. You weren't worried were you?"

"Nope," I say somewhat gruff, then try to change back to the subject, "I wouldn't say you're bad at it though."

"Hmm?"

"The doodling stuff. This is the best stuff I've ever seen." I think I'm smiling, but if I am, I don't care. It's the damn truth. My wife is the best artist in Japan, no one can fight me on this.

"You're just saying that cause I'm your wife."

God I love hearing her say that. I cradle her as close as possible and hide my face into the crook of her neck because I think its glowing red and I don't want her to know. This damn wench would use it against me somehow.

"Stupid, why else?"

And then she chuckles and shakes as she does it, so full of mirth that it's leaking over into my ocean of doubt, clearing it as easily as when she used to pick jewel shards from the flesh of a demons.

"You're so bad!" She admonishes in her high voice, leaning into my neck and littering it with kisses, "Can't you be nicer? Aren't you supposed to be sweet on these nights?"

It fucking tickles.

And then I can't even hear anything else that spills from her mouth because I have begun to laugh very loudly.

Which only goads her further of course- reaching her lips to every uncovered spot of my body from the waist up, spider-dancing her fingers around to my armpits to continue the attack.

But then I decide this isn't a very fair fight, and retaliate as vehemently as I can from my side. She shrieks on cue and attempts to lift herself away from my hands but I've got better ideas. And then she's on her back and we've knocked over a jar of blue paint, turning the floor below us into a night sky.

"I-Inuyasha! Ah-stop!" She's giggling high and clear, like a bird who's just learned to fly.

I'm not sure what it is about what's happening now, and it's probably nothing, because we're just being silly and it's not like we've never been like this before, but somehow it has the unintended effect of pooling a huge amount of heat into my chest.

A hunger overtakes me- one that I've grown familiar to associate with my wife- and I'm overcome.

From one moment to the next I've reached over to pin her hands to the floor, staring at her intently, watching her catch her breath and the small ease of her chest as it heaves up and down.

Her hair is haloed over her head with blue paint smeared against the ends, and blotches of red and yellow are freckled all over her face. Her mouth is split in a wide happy grin and her eyes are crinkled with beads of tears from laughing so hard. The fire glows warm and enticing, encouraging me to look at her in a way I hadn't just a few moments ago.

I want to kiss her with a desperation that seems to have just grown out of thin air. Its gratitude, and relief, and joy, and the simple amazement that I can utterly love this creature so much, and nothing can ever take that away.

Not to mention the fact that when Kagome laughs, she looks devastatingly gorgeous.

So I crash into her, and she wraps her arms around me in response. And I'm kissing, kissing, kissing away anything terrible and disastrous and sad, taking care of her in the only way I can.

Is it working, though?

She wraps her arms around me and pulls me in closer, pressing her body to mine with a hum.

I think so.


	3. Flaws

**"Flaws" InuKag Week 3**

* * *

 **A/N:** ONE OF KAGOME'S FLAWS IS JEALOUSY _AND THIS FIC IS PLAYING ON THOSE VOLATILE EMOTIONS. **RATED M. NSFW. SMUT TYPE THING AT THE END.**_

 _ **word count:** 1400_

 **rating** : M

* * *

The women in the Feudal Era liked to stare.

It was something that surprised me at first, but the shock didn't last long before the angry and mean feelings set in, pushing all other emotion aside.

And that's not to say the women from my era didn't stare- I know I personally probably lingered my eyes for far more time than necessary on a stranger here and there, but…but this is _ridiculous!_

Even from twenty feet away, I could see them. Preened on their toes and giggling into their hands. One of them in particular was wearing a flattering almost see-through kimono that wrapped around her hips tightly, accenting every curve. Her hair was up in a messy sex-kitten bun.

Akemi. Bright beauty.

More like _not-so-bright_ beauty.

Inuyasha had started hacking lumber as a favor, but Miroku had dropped the hint of turning it into a side job, earning enough money to keep us well above water. And _Akemi_ just happened to be his most frequenting customer.

She was new in town, and had come in fast and hot for a seasonal festival- then just unfortunately never _left_. I wish she would though, because she has this disgusting crush on Inuyasha that everyone seems to know about but him.

She would have just been another tallying mark added to the alarming number of single (some _not_ so single) women that corral around my husband while he's chopping wood…

Except she was the straw that broke the camel's back that day, because Akemi didn't just _stare_ , she'd move and she'd _jiggle_ , and she'd ask him for wood every _single_ day, bringing back more timber than her household could ever need in the middle of summer. Then she'd lean over the fence that separated the audience from their eye-candy, and push her breasts into his face.

My _husband's_ face.

Inuyasha never responds, and the likelihood of him knowing or even acknowledging is the only thing that keeps me from yanking on those curly loose tendrils of silk that fall from the knot at the top of her stupid big head.

When I tried to bring it up over dinner, or casually while picking berries in the field, he'd stare at me as if I'd grown three different heads. ("She just wants wood, Kagome." "Oh trust me. _I know_." "What?")

I realize that logically: my husband is innocent, we are in a committed marriage, and absolutely nothing will ever come of her pathetic attempts to woo him.

But my blood boils with a fury so previously unprovoked, that I'm thrown back to my teenage days… strapped to a tree and watching someone throw themselves at something that I had unknowingly deemed as _mine._

And I was sick of it.

I was sick of the women all acting like he was a sight within their right to behold, shirtless and sweating and tan and tall and dark and _handsome_. I was tired of Akemi. I was tired of remembering Kikyo this way…

So I decided that today was the perfect moment to stake my claim.

This time, I wasn't going to sulk. Because this time, he belonged to me.

I pushed straight through the crowd, indulging in the scandalized gasps and audible eye-rolling, sauntered up to the plank of dry wood, and brushed right past Akemi.

I sprang over the rail cleanly, since I was stripped of my traditional priestess robes and donning a thin white tank-top with red pants. Compliments of Kagome Higurashi's New Knack for Sewing. (I'm trying to start a business but the fish aren't biting…yet.)

I strode with purpose towards my husband, and when he finally looked up from his swinging axe action he flashed me a confused grin. Happy to see me. As it should be.

Akemi made a little huffing noise, and I felt extremely pleased with myself as I stood up straight on the ends of my sandal-covered toes and looked lovingly at the object of her misguided affections.

He was glistening with beads of sweat that were creasing lines along his arms and chest, wearing the same pants he always wears- except they were riding low around his hips and the cut of muscles under his toned abs did little to steady my breathing. His left ear flickered towards me. And his lips parted in a question that he wouldn't have time to ask because I was on a _mission._

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he dropped the axe, allowing me to back him up against the wooden bar behind him. Then without a second thought, before my courage evaporated, I rose my lips to him and captured them in the most possessive kiss I could muster.

For a moment he stilled, stiffening completely and I was making out with a rock-hard wall- but then I felt his arms grab at my waist and pull me in closer, kissing me back with just as much hunger as I had thrown onto him.

We never display affection like this so publicly, and the most I can ever get out of him is casual hand-holding (although even that, he likes to avoid if he can). So I was so pleasantly surprised, that for a good few seconds I had completely lost myself in the soft touch of his lips, sighing in amazement when his tongue reached out for mine.

Behind us, the gawking hens murmured among themselves and Akemi made an indignant pitiful squeak.

I heard the scuffling of all of them retreating back to their boring lives and I felt a flare of victory ignite within me. I hope they had gotten the message. I hope _she_ had gotten the message.

Then Inuyasha's hands were tangled in my hair and I let the thought slip from my mind.

When we finally broke apart, huffing and red and dazed, he finally managed a, "Hey"

"Hey," I said back quietly.

He quirked an eyebrow and scanned my face for any clues as to why I had decided to assault him in the middle of the day, seemingly in front of a captive audience.

But before he could ask and force me to confess- I made another tactical decision.

I stared straight into his golden eyes, hoping upon hope that all the raw erupting passion in my pores was leaking into his so that my message would be read loud and clear and convincing enough for him to act on it.

"Take me _home_ ," I said as sultry and suggestively as possible.

And for an extremely dense and oblivious half-demon, my husband's eyes shot open like someone had just rammed a hammer against the back of his head.

He gathered me close and flew with a drumming heartbeat through the short-cut of the forest to do exactly what I had asked.

* * *

Except we never made it to the bedroom, and I might have a few splinters in my back, but it was well worth every wild, gyrating, sweltering, moment. We were animals and this was our kingdom, barreling around the leaves with moans and guttural echoes.

I even knotted my legs around him at one point and climbed him like a tree, taking everything I wanted and giving nothing back. He fell back and we moved against each other like we had nothing to lose.

He had to anchor himself with his claws digging into the dirt around me, and I arched over him to use all the strength of my upper body, sinking down and watching him disappear, proceeding to bounce up and down, _up and down_ \- pistoling myself with him like a savage, free of all restraints. His eyes darkened, his jaw falling open in wonder, and I have never been more in love with him than I was in that bloodcurdling moment.

He was steel and I was _fire._

"What the _fuck_ , Kagome," he finally ground out, closing his eyes and lasting all of thirty seconds.

So then we did it again, and with a little more coaxing- a third time.

And a fourth.

Until finally I couldn't anymore and he was chuckling huskily (and defeated) into my tremendously tangled hair.

"I don't know what the hell came over you, but that was…" He doesn't finish, but he didn't have to because I was kissing him all over again.

* * *

 _I also might have been an octave too loud, but to be as honest and petty as possible- I was just hoping Akemi heard it._


	4. AU

_**"AU" InuKag Week 4**_

 _ **A/N**_ _: The idea came to me while listening to Met at Work…_

 _ **word count:** 1500_

 _ **rating** : T_

* * *

 _Traveling in a fried-out Kombi_

 _On a hippie trail, head full of zombie_

 _I met a strange lady, she made me nervous_

 _She took me in and gave me breakfast_

 _And she said-_

* * *

The awareness that Inuyasha required water sooner than later buzzed in his ears, annoying and persistent like the gnats that hovered his head.

But he hadn't a drop of it, and he had traded his last horse for the rifle that burned hot steel against his back. Useless and unprovoked since the second he threw down his saddle for it.

He'd see her again…eventually. The mare was his and always would be, so he needed to find a temporary job, build up his savings again, and buy her back.

Although none of those things would happen first without his finding water.

And seeing as he was shoulders deep under a crushing weight of orange desert sand, head pushed to the side to sizzle under the unpitying sun- he was sooner fated to die of dehydration than apply for any open career positions.

"Oh my God!"

It was a female, of that much he was certain, but he couldn't distinguish if it was a danger or not.

If she was, it'd take a perplexingly long amount of time for him to reach behind his back, aim appropriately, and take fire. So he decided on growling harsh and low in his throat instead. A murmuring rumble vibrated past his locked jaw. Nonthreateningly.

But the female was not deterred, and once she got close enough that the stink of his hair was practically forced up her nostrils, she tied a thick chord of nylon rope over his upper body. "Oh my god…it reeks. You poor thing, you're probably already dead aren't you?" She wondered how in God's name his traveling hat was still situated over his head.

"I'm not dead!"

She squealed and almost jumped back before fastening the knot over his chest. "Don't worry! I'm going to get you out, innocent civilian!"

"I ain't a civilian!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry- innocent aboriginal!"

"Get this damn rope offame', I don't need none of your stinkin'-"

"Hang tight, child of the country!"

"What the fuck did you just call-"

"Okay, Buyo! Pull!" The girl called out to some presence ahead of them, and then Inuyasha's breath was sucked from his lungs as the rope pulled tight. His ribs pressed up against his chest plates and he hacked out a breath.

" _Yer killin me_ ," he wheezed out. But the girl was not listening, intent on helping out the pitiful man stuck like a stick in the mud.

When the rest of his body finally appeared, she steadied her Buyo and ran back down to check on the progress.

"Yes!" She punched the air and leapt to the half-dead man's side, "We did it! You're saved!"

"Good for you," Inuyasha said breathily, coughing and spitting out sand, "Now untie me."

"Oh! Of course…You know…" She paused, expertly running her fingers along the rope and then undoing the knot within three short seconds, "It'd do you some good to show a little bit of gratitude."

He ignored her and shot up, watching as dizzying pinwheels swam past his vision, "Do ya have some water?"

He could make out a pair of dusty pouty lips forming into a stern line, "I do. But not on me. My house isn't far from here, you could-"

"No thanks. Just point me west."

She crossed her arms with a huff and walked away, meeting with a short cream colored kangaroo, "It's behind you." Then she rubbed her animal's forehead and murmured an expletive. Inuyasha's eyebrow rose at the rare sight of seeing a small female like her uttering words like those.

He gazed at the way her shoulders slumped and the silly feeling of Guilt crawled into his gut, leaving a greasy trail in its wake.

"Ah…" He saw the girl and a little ways back a shabby cottage- what was probably her home, inviting and cute and small. Then he looked behind him and saw an ocean expanse of empty space and layers upon layers of yellow and orange crushed rock.

A tumbleweed rolled by.

But before he could open his mouth and pedal back a few impulsive statements, she beat him to it.

"Are you sure you don't want to stop by? I was making…I have pancake and eggs and bacon….Breakfast-" She suddenly perked up, lifting a finger to the sky, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all! And it's still morning, not even an appropriate time to have brunch yet, so really I mean truly you should-"

"Holy shit," He rubbed his temple and stepped forward sluggishly, "If I say yes, will you stop your babbling?"

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed a few times before finally settling on a deadly glare.

"Well Buyo," Her lips made a smacking noise, "Not every day we meet an Inbreed, hmm?" The animal thumped his tail agreeably.

"A what?!"

She flipped her half-up done hair and _hrmphed_ as she began to walk home.

"Listen you _brat_ -"

"A what?!"

"I'm not an inbred!"

"I'm twenty-two years old!"

"Sure don't act like it! What school of Lady Propriety did you attend?"

"I didn't!"

"Oh- well then," Inuyasha titled his head with a smirk, "Shit's starting to make sense then now, ain't it?"

"Forget the bacon!" Kagome shrilled, stomping away and pulling at the reigns of her marsupial. "Forget ever offering a hand, you are not deserving of my hospitality."

Shit.

"Okay wait-" Inuyasha felt his energy re-surging to his bones as he jogged to be at her side again, "I take it back-"

When he was finally right in front of her, he got a fantastic first look at her face, and what he saw unnerved him right down to the marrow in his bones.

She wasn't a child as he had assumed- she was a grown woman, and one with sharp pretty features framed by a fringe of bangs. A pert nose and cherry colored cheeks.

Light assuming eyes scrutinized him as he froze with his mouth hanging open in mid-sentence. Two soft stacks of hair fell perfectly by the small seashell of her ears. A neat green scarf was loose over the white column of her neck.

He suddenly felt faint hearted…and that was when he knew for certain he needed that water, bacon, eggs, and then some.

"I'll take the damn food."

"Hospitality." She corrected.

"Whatever."

* * *

 _"_ _Do you come from the land dowunda?_ " Her accept tripped him up and he lazily glanced at her. She had her chin cradled in her palm, an inquisitive tilt to her head.

"What does it look like? I was born here." He twitched his dog ears for emphasis.

"So what were you doing uh…you know, buried under all that sand?"

"Napping," he spat sarcastically.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, pushing back from the table and standing to pour herself more lemonade.

He glanced around curiously, noting that the house was entirely empty except for them.

"Do you live here alone?"

"Sometimes," she replied distantly.

"Do you know how damn unsafe that is?"

Her eyes focused on a fixed point behind him, so he moved marginally to gaze at a long shotgun hanging on the yellow tacky wallpaper.

He shrugged and with a mouth full of runny eggs he said, "That won't protect shit."

"It'll do enough." She cut back.

A stretch of silence spanned between them and Inuyasha itched his ear, a nagging thought pulling on his interest but knowing better than to bring it up.

"You're wondering why I invited you in when you're just a stranger and we hardly know each other."

"No I'm not." Yes he was.

"Well," she continued, unperturbed. "When I was a little girl, I was outside in a storm. I fell into the stream that just appeared out of nowhere- you know how it is around here."

He shrugged, not willing to admit he was interested in where this was going.

"And I should have died- my Pa had passed away, and my Ma was too busy with the baby to notice her only daughter had gone missing," she sniffed at that, almost as if she were still holding a grudge.

"-But I was saved. By a man with silver hair and golden eyes."

Inuyasha's unimpressed look flickered up at her concentrated stare.

"He didn't have your ears but…I've never seen someone like that again. Until now. And I know that there's new protocol that humans aren't to let any aboriginal demon kin into our quarters but-"

"Yeah?" Inuyasha pushed his dish, signifying he was done with it, lifted the cup of water to down it in a single gulp, and stood up. "Riveting story. Time for me to go."

She worried her bottom lip and reached an arm out to stop him, "Wait! I was going to say- I'm not…I'm not who you think I am."

He had tuned her out though, already mentally plotting what his next move was. A job. He needed a job. To get his mare back.

"See ya later, girl-"

"Kagome."

And that was when he noticed she had vaulted over the chair separating them, and sped around his side to stop him in his tracks, pushing him back with an exasperated nudge. A wild look glimmered in her eyes, as if she were desperate for something only he could give her.

"I'm Kagome, and I'm part of the Rebellion. This is a half-demon safe house. And you're the son of the Taisho aren't you? You're Inuyasha?"

* * *

 _Do you come from the land down under?_

 _Where women glow and men plunder_

 _Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?_

 _You better run, you better take cover_

* * *

 **A/N:** _Listen I'm all about puns, and point blank is AU is short for Australia. So there ya go. An Australian!AU. In where half-demons are treated like the aboriginals. Also, picture Inuyasha with one of those Australian hats, a slack jaw, a rubble for a beard, boots, and khaki shorts with a scarf over his neck. You're welcome_


	5. Sorrow

**"Sorrow"** \- **InuKag Week 5**

 **word count** : _1600_

 _ **Rated:** M_

* * *

The thing with death is that even when you think the pain is gone, something will trip it up- like waking, or bathing, or stirring a pot of ramen noodles- and then there's this irrevocable _agony_ that takes it's time constricting around every organ in your body, starting with the esophagus and working its way down to your intestines.

And it hurts.

And it _stays._

Until you forget long enough for it to surprise you when it jingles the door on the way in, paying another visit- although hopefully not while you're in front of people, because then you have to hold it in for as long as you can, and suppressing it only lengthens the ache when you finally have a moment to service it.

To think that this was how Kagome Higurashi would feel, only a few months after returning from the future, was unthinkable.

And now it has become a part of her life.

Because Inuyasha was gone.

Because Inuyasha was dead.

* * *

"I want you to take two cups of this, Kagome."

She stares listlessly at the corner of the room, because a giant pit now exists where her soul used to be.

"Kagome, please, I need you to-"

"Just leave it, Kaede."

There is no added politeness, no tacked on show of gratitude. There nothing pleasantry about Kagome any longer, there is just a yawning, terrible darkness that threatens to swallow her whole with each passing hour.

"Kagome," Kaede is stern as she reminds,"You may be with child."

Kagome twists into her sweat drenched sheets and hacks up a dry sob, feeling a crushing nothingness suck out all the lovely and pure things of the world. She just wants to sleep. She wants the old priestess to leave her alone so that she can close her eyes and escape to the only true place she could still see _him_ again.

The sound of wood landing solidly on her mat resonates in the tiny, abandoned looking hut. Kaede had put the cup down and she was going to depart now.

This isn't the first time Kagome has played this part; forcefully shutting her eyes in hopes that Kaede would take the message and fade away into the blackness.

This is about the sixth time since _it_ happened.

And her visits are no longer farther and farther apart as they used to be; where between the first and the second, Kagome was granted two weeks, now she was only given two days.

"Child, I will not sit by idly and watch you wither away and kill your and Inuy-"

"Get out!" Kagome yelled suddenly, tucking her knees under her chin, rolling into a sideways ball, "Get out! Get out! Get out!" And with each repeated word she felt herself spiraling into a disorienting craziness, all her sanity replaced by an inescapable numbness. " _Leave_!"

Hands find their way to her shoulders and the next thing she knew she was being smothered in a warm unbreakable embrace.

"Oh, Kagome," the voice above her soothes as wet tears finally roll freely down her dry cheeks.

* * *

With each passing month, it was getting more and more difficult to avoid the gravity of her situation.

She was pregnant, she was in the Feudal Era, and she was depressed.

Funny enough, the first two- had there been a different outcome to the battle on the New Moon six months ago- would have been joined with nothing but smiles, laughter, pies, and passionate sex.

But being that the real world was what it was, they both only further instigated the third- depression. Depression, which was a constant nagging emotion that Kagome Higurashi was learning how to adapt to.

She'd go through the motions, tuning out voices, smiling when necessary, and making pretend that she was looking at the glass half full.

When she was not.

The child would have no father, the mother would have no happiness, and whether a she or a he, they would be cursed to this anti-biotic-less world.

(One of Shinichi's kids died yesterday due to what Kagome could only assume was meningitis.)

"Just stay safe," Kagome would whisper into the night, after Kaede would be long fast asleep. "Just don't come out, stay safe."

* * *

"Kagome, you have to eat better. For the baby."

Everyone thought they could tell her how to go about her life. The women in the village were insatiable with their constant tips, little tidbits of advice- _when she wanted lemons, when she wanted paper, when she wanted to take a silent walk through the market_ \- they would appear like unwanted dust and overwhelm her.

Like she didn't already _know_.

"Sango, not you too." She sighed.

The mother of three (soon to be four), reached for her shoulder to grip it tightly in an affectionate manner. "I don't say it to annoy you, Kagome. I say it because…"

Because she looked like a swollen corpse.

The circles under her eyes were glowing in the dark, and her arms were skin and bones hanging against her sides.

"I'm fine," A forced smile. "Really!"

"No you're not, Kagome. You don't have to pretend with me."

Then the barrier of false peace broke over the priestess's face. The veil evaporated, and suddenly she wasn't smiling at the demon slayer, she was expressionless.

Real.

"What would you know about it?" She finally laid out harshly. Not with intention to harm, more with intention to inform.

 _You_ with the husband that is still alive. _You_ with the children dancing in the meadow. _You_ with the life that she thought she would find here when she took a tumble down a well for the last time.

"What would I know?" Sango's whole face contorted into a frown, before pulling away into a wan smile. "What would I know about death right? About losing someone close to you? Being so deep into a depression that the idea of interacting with others makes you want to vomit? I couldn't possibly know anything about that."

Kagome felt like she had just been pulled from deep comatose state, and where previously she had felt nothing but a gut-wrenching numbness, now she felt guilt. And sadness. And emotion.

"I'm sorry, Sango." She gasped, wringing her hands on top of her belly, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Stop." The woman opposite her stood from her kneeling position and yanked Kagome into a hug.

It always ends with one of these hugs, Kagome thought to herself as she sobbed into the pink fabric of Sango's chest.

* * *

"Did you come to lecture me on eating too?"

Silence.

"Because I'm eating just fine, the baby just isn't letting me keep it down."

A bird falls on top of the gravestone in front of her and sings a tune.

"Are you just going to stand there, judging me? Because I wasn't really expecting visitors today- obviously I came to this secluded part of the forest because I wanted to be left _alone."_

The intimidating presence aside her places a flower that Kagome has never seen by her feet.

"Crush this into some milk." He gazes into her eyes and the intensity of his amber stare makes her look away. "It will keep the food down."

Before he departs, Kagome says, "Wait…Wait."

And when he does, it is almost as if the forest has decided to wait with him.

"Where were you?"

There is no need for context, and the demon's expression remains unreadable. The only telling evidence that he heard her: a fist tightening at his side.

"I was traveling. I was not close."

"When did you find out?"

"When it was too late."

Closure.

* * *

"Oh my god," Kagome rasps, after a tedious long night of contractions and pain and blood. "He's here. It's you. Oh my god."

And there is nothing in her heart but joy, and relief, and bliss.

The demons that have plagued her for the past nine months are lying seven feet under. _Sorrow_ is just a term- no longer a living presence in her mind.

She's been given a moment alone with the newborn on her belly, and she scans him over like it will be her last, because if there's anything Kagome has learned from the past year- it's that it very well could be.

He's perfect. He's healthy, he's crying (loudly), and punching at the air already. Ready for a good fight.

"Just like your father," and she stops because now she's crying too. She leans her sweaty forehead onto his tiny white head and tries to hold back the hiccups that wrack her frame. "He'd love you so much!"

"He'd probably try to name you something samurai like. Something like Akechi. Or Hattori."

The infant's cries dribble into a garble of grunts and moans.

"But I like Kido. What do you think? Your dad isn't here to vote, so you have to agree with me, or we keep moving down the list. And I'm warning you," Kagome bops her son on the nose. "The next one on the list is Hojo. Make your move little man."

The baby's ears tremble as he moves to snuffle into his mother's chest. He takes a nipple into his mouth and starts to feed agreeably.

His two golden eyes blink up at her.

She feels a force take permanent hold of her heart.

Then Kagome does something she hasn't done in a very long time…something she never thought possible again.

Not since jumping into a well and emerging on the other side to tell a half-demon that she wished to stay with him.

Not since floating in a suffocating darkness, and watching a spot of red emerge like the birth of a universe in front of her.

Not since her wedding underneath the glow of cherry blossoms.

…

 _Kagome falls in love._

…

 _"Stupid," she could almost hear him in the distance with a ridiculous smirk. "Of course you would."_

* * *

 **A/N** : _It's sad but I tried ending it well. She eventually gets over the depression because her son birth is almost like her rebirth. Hope ya'll enjoyed it. Or didn't enjoy it. Or whatever! HAPPY INUKAG WEEEK GUYS WE GOT TWO MORE DAYS. LET'S ENJOY IT TO THE FULLEST! Tagged it NSFW cause of the mention of sex; you never know right?_


	6. Laugh

**"Laugh" - InuKag Week Day 6**

 **A/N:** _Ya'll must be getting tired of me writing Inuyasha and Kagome "after-story", especially considering we have a whole prompt centered around it today, and yet here I am…consciously using it for all the other prompts lol. This is purely meant to be a humor fic, and I decided to throw in an awkward set of characters for the funny scene. I think it works somehow. But you let me know._

 _ **word count:** 1400_

 _ **rating:** K+_

* * *

 _After a very long time of patient waiting, nine excruciating months, and ten unpleasant hours, Inuyasha and Kagome had a daughter. And she was treasured, and small, and precocious as can be._

 _Somewhere around the same time, Koga and Ayame had a litter of children, one after another, and ending most recently in a pair of boys that were polar opposites in every way._

 _But much before that, Miroku and Sango had a son, and he was more his father than he was his mother, and it showed._

* * *

"Sessomau!" The baby smiles, holding up a stone and wiggling around on her toes. "Seasell! Dor you."

Sesshomaru glances at it passively, takes it from her grip, and turns it over carefully. "This is a rock."

"Seasell."

"Rumiko, this is a rock. Seashells are by the sea."

"Sea?" The baby parrots back eagerly.

A few days ago, while Inuyasha was traveling the countryside in search for a demon, and Kagome was taking care of a broken-out epidemic at the village, he had explained to her that there was something called the sea, and that when she got _old_ enough he'd take her. It took about twenty different _whats_ and ten variety of _whys,_ but she seems to have finally grasped the idea of it.

And that was a mistake, because now she wouldn't stop talking about it.

"You take me now?"

"No," he shot down fluidly, "You would get overwhelmed by the waves and drown."

A shadow appears and Sesshomaru resists the urge to crack his green energy whip because he knows the shape of that shadow far too well for his liking.

"Where'd you learn about the sea, Butterbean?" A giant glorious smile eclipses the sun.

"Daiki!" The four-year old waddles over to the teenage boy with a light chuckle. He's missing his usual demon slayer training clothes, and has opted for a lazier pull over instead. Which Sesshomaru thinks is a perfect reflection of his personality.

The boy is going through a growth spurt and has to kneel low to the ground to take the baby into his arms for a short hug. He repeats his question.

"Sessomau!" Rumiko dances in place and points all her fingers at the demon aside them, "Lessons!" The demon in question scrutinizes the encounter with something akin to disgust. Or annoyance. Or apathy.

To be completely honest, Daiki could never tell.

He flashes Sesshomaru a look of shock before a smirk overtakes his features, " _Lessons_ , eh Sesshomaru? Wanna teach me some? I'm always up for a good learnin'."

 _The audacity of this insolent human parasite._

Sesshomaru is just about to tell him exactly what kind of lessons he can expect to get- when the baby squeals and runs happily across the open sunlit yard with arms wide open.

" _Pa_ pa! _Ma_ ma!"

The two of them are coming up the hill slowly, with arms full of wolf-demon children.

The wolf tribe's leaders were fortunate enough to give birth to six children so far- and with no intention of stopping, Sesshomaru was already making good note to steer clear of their section of the country.

The last two born happened to be the twins; and thankfully the one perched peacefully on Kagome's shoulders was a quiet thing- only causing trouble when his silence aided in his knack for escaping. He never _purposely_ tried to upset anybody, and he was often good at staying out of any terrible messes.

His name is Kota and he is the spitting image of his mother.

The one squirming for release under Inuyasha's arm (with what just might be every bit of strength he has)- is a dramatically different story.

And _his_ name is Riku.

It's particularly hilarious because where his brother mimicked his mother in every feature (from the hair, to the skin, to the eyes), Riku looks exactly like his father, seems to hate Inuyasha with every last ounce of his being, and has an adorable affinity to Kagome that disturbs the half-demon to no end.

So in reality, this is a fight that has been going on for quite literally- generations.

"Kagome, I'm going to kill him."

"Don't talk to my _wife_!" The boy kicks and shouts, "You stupid head!"

"She's _my_ wife!" Inuyasha yells back and flips the child upside down, "You short insufferable-"

"Inuyasha." Kagome scolds, "He's a child."

"He's a piece of-"

"I _hate_ you, Inuyasha." Riku spits out morosely.

Sesshomaru knows what's about to happen because he had already seen Rumiko zeroing in on her target from a few seconds earlier, but he did nothing to stop it because he was becoming increasingly bored with the scenario and could use some theatrics.

It's important to point out: Rumiko hates the boy almost just as much as her father does.

She marches angrily over to them and when she arrives in front of her father and the little demon in his arms, she reaches her chubby arms into his black jet hair, grabs, and yanks.

Hard.

The child screeches something so shrill that Sesshomaru almost silences him permanently there on the spot.

But he lets his niece take pleasure in hearing the child suffer instead.

Riku struggles so wildly that his leg jolts out and knocks Inuyasha straight on the nose. They all fall over backwards into a pile- the demon, the half-demon, and the quarter-demon.

The whole ordeal startles the little girl, and she starts to cry.

Sesshomaru moves forward like lightning to pluck her from the ground, but her mother is faster- putting Kota on the floor smoothly, she scoops up her daughter.

Rumiko wails into her mama's shoulder, making tiny sobbing noises, and nearly breaking his frozen heart.

"You alright, baby?" Kagome murmurs, trying to hide her amusement.

"Mamaaaaa," Rumiko cries miserably.

"Now listen." Her mother jostles her lightly and plants a kiss on her head, "You can't just pull hair like that. This is what happens when you do, people get hurt."

"Papa?" Rumiko hiccups. Any concern for Koga's son is noticeably absent.

"I'm okay, squirt." Her father stands up at attention, with the wolf child hanging by his tail savagely swiping at the air. "Kagome, we're not having any sons," he spits out venomously. "No fu- _freak_ ing sons."

"Inuyasha, _language!"_ Then she turns over to the retreating white back of her brother-in-law, "Sesshomaru, you're leaving?"

He plays with the idea of replying, but he knows better than to encourage bad behavior, and his number one pet peeve was answering rhetorical questions.

Not only that, but he was not about to be privy a pseudo conversation of his brother and his wife discussing procreation possibilities.

But then he hears the half-demon mumble an expletive under his breath, and returns in a blur to push him back onto the ground.

"You stinkin' bastard! I was going to fucking thank you for watching the girl-"

"Inuyasha," Kagome begins threateningly.

"Wait, Kagome, it was an accident-"

"Haha," Riku chortles and points to the ground, "Sit!"

"Sit-" A resounding thump echoes out to Kagome, " _Indeed_."

"Ah," Daiki sighs with relief, throwing his arms back to rest them on the back of his head. Almost entirely forgotten about until now. "These fleeting moments are always such prime entertainment."

"Brat," Inuyasha calls out from his pit in the dirt, "Wasn't your mother looking for you?"

"Oh yeah," Kagome turns a small knowing glare to the boy, "Sango said you ditched your laundry duty today."

"Emphasis on the _fleeting_ ," he laughed dryly and then ran away with a two finger salute.

Sesshomaru disappears, so the couple is left alone with the three children.

Inuyasha gestures to Miroku's boy with his free hand, "Add that to the list of why we won't be having any sons."

Kagome would love nothing more than to lecture her husband on the scientific impossibility of choosing the gender of your child, but she decides to leave that for another day. For now she has more pressing questions to attend to.

"Did you have a good day with your uncle today, sweetie?"

The baby nods enthusiastically, "I _love_ Sessomau."

Kagome watches her husband roll his eyes from the corner of hers.

"That's beautiful, baby." She reaches behind her for the telling hand of Kota, but makes purchase on nothing but air.

And that's when she realizes that one half of the wolf-demon twins has gone missing.

"Inuyasha, get up."

"You just _sat_ me-"

"Kota is missing again."

"I swear to fu- _freaki_ ng- this is the last god _dang_ time we watch over these terrors. How did Ayame even rope you into doing it this time? I thought we had decided this already."

"They were on our doorstep this morning."

"This family has no godforsaken shame. They have a _whole_ freaking tribe, and we end up being the ones watching their as- _bu_ tts."

"Inuyasha-"

"I'm going, I'm going." He makes move to turn Riku over to his wife, but the child has already wrapped himself around the priestess's legs. The boy looks up at the woman lovingly with his father's handsome megawatt smile.

"I would have many sons with you, Kagome."

"Oooookay," Kagome pats him on the head and steers him back to their hut. "Time for naps."

* * *

 **A/N:** _The wolf-demon twins caused such chaos when the other tribe members babysat them, that Ayame and Koga felt for now it was better that InuKag take care of them and that's why they were dropped on the door step that morning. :) Also, Kagome gets pregnant a second time and has a son. To the surprise and fascination of Inuyasha. (I typically write InuKag having three children (Kenta, Kaede, and Kameko), but for this fanfic I played on the idea of them having a daughter first from one my earlier fics.)_


	7. Toward Tomorrow

**_Toward Tomorrow - InuKag Week Day 7_**

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _We've come to the end my friends. So I let Inuyasha take it from here._

 _ **word count:** 1100 _

_**rating:** K_

* * *

My son was really fucking loud.

I'm talking, ear-splitting, banshee screeching, if-there-were-glass-it'd-be-broken loud.

And seeing as infants did the crying thing at all hours of the night, I have grown accustomed to zombie-walking in the twilight over to the basinet on the floor, and begging him to go to sleep. Everyday.

Kagome refuses to leave him in the room I made for him, so my half-dead stumble to his corner of the room is short.

"Kid," I struggle out sleepily, "I've survived just about every deadly encounter you can think of, but I don't think I've ever been this close to death."

He screams in response, so I reach down and scoop him into my arms. His nose sniffs desperately at my robes and I feel his tiny fingers dig into my shoulder.

He knows instantly it isn't his mother and he opens his mouth in a pitiful gasp, his eyes finding mine in distaste. _I don't want you,_ they say to me. _I want the goods._

"Well you ain't getting them right now, bud. Mama needs her rest or else _she's_ going to kill me. And boys need their fathers. Trust me," I yawn and start to slowly make myself out of the room, "I should know."

Considering you know, that I never had one.

His crying feels numbing, but once we're finally outside in the dark, his surprise overtakes his water-works and he quiets down.

"You wanna hear a story, little man?"

He gurgles at me and pets the fabric on my chest.

"Alright. Where should I start…" How do these things start? "Once upon a _time_ there was this really weak half-demon kid. And he lost everything. His papa, his mama, and his home."

He turns his head away, almost as if unimpressed.

"Yeah I know, it's boring right? But it gets better. Just give me a second." I shift him from my right arm to my left and tuck the blanket around him a little bit tighter. There's a breeze.

"This kid meets this girl. And she's great. She gives him something he hadn't had for…well since never pretty much. Hope. And hope is a dangerous thing, let me tell you now kid. It's nothing something you'll have to worry about though. Feel free to hope for the rest of your life." I get a knot in my throat. "I-I'll make it so you can hope for the rest of your life, I promise you that."

"But something happens and kid is…well he's damn tricked. And he's an idiot so he doesn't know he's being tricked and the girl he met becomes his enemy. And then he falls asleep for a really long time. A _really_ long time. I'm talking decades. I'm talking five decades."

My son's eyes fix at the joining of my lips, eyeing them with fascination. Well at least he was listening. Both our ears twitch.

"But someone finally comes around to wake the kid up. A girl. A really cute girl. And he is still an idiot so he tries to bang her up a bit, but you can bet that she puts him in his place."

"Bang her up?"

I furrow my eyebrows because I should have known she was behind me, but I was so goddamn exhausted…

"He tried to kill her."

"Alright alright," I watch my wife sleepily wipe the sand from her eyes. "You wanna tell this story?"

Our son cries and throws out his curled up fists in excitement. I can't resist kissing his cheeks as I finally give him what he wants. "Here," I pass him over carefully.

"No no," She yawns adorably and cuddles the boy into her neck. "Go on, don't let me stop you."

"I don't remember where I left off."

"The kid was being an idiot, and the girl was putting him in his place."

I sigh and watch my little family snuggle into each other under the light of the moon. Call me a sucker, I can't deny these two anything.

"She teaches the kid kindness. And laughter. And…he teaches her how to have a damn heart."

Kagome clears her throat and narrows her eyes, but there's a loving smile on her face. I think there might be one on my face too.

"And with the help of their friends, they save the world."

"Hmmm. Is that it?"

"No," I find myself hovering over them like I'll fall of the edge of the earth if I don't. "No, the girl leaves the kid for a long time, and the kid suffers."

"She didn't do it on purpose," she whispers back at me, a tint of sadness coloring her words.

"I know," I reach up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Our son has passed out between us. His breathing is steady, and music to my ears. "He doesn't hold it against her."

"That's a relief."

"And she comes back, so that helps." I want to kiss my wife after this, but her eyes are dancing, and I can tell that she wants me to finish. "And the boy wises up and marries her."

I can't resist any longer, I duck down and finish what she's started. I bridge our lips together, and I feel the hum of her chuckle reach from her chest to mine.

She breaks apart from me first, and I'm so close that I stare with half-lidded eyes at the brown sparkle in her eyes.

Words don't come easy to me. They stumble and fall from my mouth like rocks, or smoke, or blunt little knives. But for some reason talking about this story makes it easy. Like I'm watching my life from beyond the reflection of a mirror.

"And she gives him a son. A beautiful, loud, _hungry all the damn time_ , needy son. Actually now that I'm thinking about it, a lot like his mother…"

She slaps half-heartedly at my chest, and I curl my hand around her to pull in my little family against my body. I feel so full and complete. I feel like the sun. The moon. The earth. Although even they could not know this feeling that I hold so heavy in my heart.

"The boy is the happiest he's ever been in his life."

"So is the girl." Kagome sags against me, and I can tell it's time to take my wife and son to bed. I swoop them over expertly, and gather them close. The fresh rays of another dawn peek over the hill at horizon, and I dip into our hut just before they can touch us.

We all settle comfortably in our large bed, the three of us. The two pieces of my heart, and me.

"And they all lived happily ever after."


End file.
